This information is only relevant to academic staff who are planning on procuring, or renewing licences for, academic software that will require ‘support’ from Academic Affairs. What can be understood as 'support' in this context is explained below.
The purpose of this process is to help confirm whether or not Academic Affairs staff will be able to provide the kinds of support you require should you go on to successfully procure, or renew licences for, the academic software in question.
‘Academic software’ or ‘educational software’ are terms used to refer to software used by educators in the learning, teaching and assessment process specifically e.g. software that helps provide feedback to students, facilitates groupwork and peer assessment, or allows staff to create interactive content, for example.
If you plan on procuring, or renewing licences for, any academic software that will require support from Academic Affairs in the short, medium and/or long term, you are asked to engage with this request process before procuring the service. This request process will help establish whether or not Academic Affairs, as a function, will be able to provide the kinds of support that you require, and when you require them, should you successfully procure, or renew licences for, the academic software in question. Engaging in this process will also help prevent situations occurring where academic software procured through funded projects and embedded in practice cannot then be supported post-project at short notice by Academic Affairs due to other commitments and/or funding restrictions. This process will allow Academic Affairs time to plan and manage current and future workloads thereby providing an excellent service for all.
Support here includes, but is not limited to:
- payment of licences
- leading tenders after 3-5 years to continue provision
- application integration with other platforms managed by Academic Affairs
- provision of training for staff on how to use the software
- support for staff around embedding the software into their learning, teaching and assessment practices
- application support
- provision of reports
- ‘how-to’ operational support
When submitting your request, you will be asked to indicate which of these forms of support you will need from Academic Affairs. Space will also be provided for you to list additional support types not included here.
To submit a request for support for academic software, please fill in this form.
Pre submission, you may find this PDF version of the online form useful to guide you as you identify the information you will need to have to hand when filling in the online form. You may need to consult with the software vendor in order to answer some of the questions. [Academic Support Request Form PDF Version for Review Pre Submission]
Please note that on the form you must indicate the name of your Faculty Dean if the software is being procured for the entire faculty, or the Head of School/Head of Function or Service if it is a school/function/service-based request, or the Project Sponsor if it is for a funded project. By providing their name on this form you are confirming that they are aware of, and support, this request.
Criteria such as the following will be used to evaluate requests for support:
- business ownership
- alignment with strategic objectives
- benefits to staff and students of adopting this software
- costs (if these need to be covered by Academic Affairs)
- expected additional workload for Academic Affairs staff in the short, medium and long term
One of four possible decisions will be made by Academic Affairs, and these will be communicated to you by email.
- Requested support for academic software confirmed
- Requested support for academic software confirmed with some caveats (which will be listed)
- Requested support for academic software on hold pending clarifications (which will be listed)
- Requested support for academic software denied (with an explanation provided)
You will receive a decision, by email, approximately 6 weeks from when you make your request.
Note: Confirmation of support from Academic Affairs will not guarantee the successful procurement of the academic software in question. Rather, you will be confident as you embark on the procurement, or renewal, process that you will have the support you require from Academic Affairs should the procurement/renewal be successful. Academic Software that is procured without confirmation of support from Academic Affairs will not subsequently be supported by Academic Affairs.
Your next steps depend on your individual situation. For example:
Licences for the software in question are not currently held at TU Dublin: In this case you need to contact the Procurement Office and initiate a tender to procure the software. Once the software has been procured, Academic Affairs will support that software in the manner agreed though the 'Requesting Support for Academic Software' process. If you need additional support from other functions, such as Technology Services for example, you will need to approach that function yourself and negotiate that support with them.
Licences for the software in question are currently held at TU Dublin but need to be renewed: If you have not crossed procurement thresholds, you can go ahead and renew these licences. However, if licence renewal will result in crossing these thresholds, then you will need to go to tender for this service to ensure compliant spend. The Procurement Office will advise you on this. Academic Affairs will provide the agreed support once the licences are in place.
The academic software in question is free/open source therefore the procurement of licences is not required: Before you start using this free/open source software, you must check if the third-party organisation or external data hosting service will store or access personal data. As TU Dublin are legally responsible for the security of this data, this software/service must be assessed by the Cloud Service Provider Assessment Group (CSPAG) to ensure that data risks are identified and managed appropriately. Further information on this assessment process can be found on the Technology Services' page External Hosting of TU Dublin Data. Academic Affairs will not provide support for any free/open source software that has not first been assessed and approved by CSPAG.